Burgess Hill

This is an important place for me, as my mom's maiden name is Burgess. I'm sure my early descendants must have come from this area of England. The weather has been lovely the past couple days, and after meeting our new hosts a couple of us were taken to Wakehurst Place. This is an old estate that is now a trust. They have a large seed bank here, as well as beautiful gardens. It was nice to stroll around and sit outside with no coat.

In the evening we gave our presentation to the Burgess Hill Rotary Club, the best club in the district by their account. They meet at a golf club from 6:00-8:00 or so. It was a fun club, and we got to have fish and chips (coincidentally for the third straight time).

This morning I visited with a teacher at a special needs school. This school has over 100 kids from 4 to 16 years old, who have some type of special need (autism, hearing impairment, behavior concerns, learning disabilities, etc.). The school is one of three in the county that services these types of kids. It is fully funded by the county government. The kids are given access to vocational training, and have opportunities to do work experience with local businesses.